Texans draft quarterback Tom Savage

A little later than most people expected, the Texans have drafted a quarterback.

Tom Savage, whose college career saw him move from Rutgers to Arizona to Pitt, was chosen with a compensatory pick in the fourth round, No. 135 overall.

Savage is the kind of big-armed pocket passer that Texans coach Bill O’Brien loves, and he looks like a good fit in O’Brien’s offense. However, Savage also needs some time to develop and is very unlikely to be the starter in Week One — and probably not at any point in his rookie year.

At the moment, the Texans have Case Keenum, Ryan Fitspatrick and T.J. Yates at quarterback. Savage will join that group, but he won’t compete with them to be the starter, at least not at first.

If he can be taught, and he’s going to need a LOT of teaching, he’s got every skill you’d want. But then again, I can’t count as high as the number of huge, big armed QB busts from mid to late rounds.

joewilliesshnoz says:May 10, 2014 2:26 PM

Good pick. A tough guy, who has a great work ethic. Go Pitt !

bluenose1965 says:May 10, 2014 2:27 PM

Pre-draft, the mocks had Savage, McCarron and Garrapolo pretty interchangeable.

Savage had the bigger arm of the 3 and bigger yet than Bridgewater and Carr.

If you’d offered it before the draft, compensatory in the 4th for Savage, seems like the best deal of where the 5 went.

canetic says:May 10, 2014 2:27 PM

He’s considered a QB guru because he once yelled at Tom Brady on the sideline. Now he’s a head coach because of that. Just like teams are fighting over Steve Kerr to coach them even though he’s never been a coach. Jordan once passed him the ball so now he’s awesome.

Well, if all the QBs suck next year, then they will be in good position for Winston, Mariota, or Hundley next year. Not necessarily a bad strategy for building the team long-term. I would not be surprised to see Fitz starting next year- maybe O’Brien can get him to throw it to the right team. Or maybe Keenum steps up after a full offseason of work. I think Yates is a goner, though, seeing as he was leap-frogged by Keenum last season.

jlilly67 says:May 10, 2014 8:04 PM

Nothing about his play and decision making screamed NFL. This one baffles me.

mwcarolina says:May 10, 2014 10:44 PM

well, if Savage, Kennum or Yates fail, then O’Brien will quickly feel a warm seat, though, i highly doubt he gets fired due to him being a first year head coach and if those guys fail, he better hope he can get Hundley, Winston or Mariota.

Rick Smith flat out should not have a job monday morning. Of
the top 10 qb’s, the team with the biggest need, took the biggest gamble, borderline pathetic. With several chances to select a qb that could offer a future, if only on paper. The Texans missed horribly. So much for that lip service by Bob McNair gave us that this is not a rebuilding year. It is theoreticlly impossible for a 2-14 team to get worse. The Texans will prove that theory to be wrong. F- offseason so far.

htowntexan says:May 11, 2014 7:01 PM

Awful draft of the texans. This coach is a joke. And agreed that Rick Smith needs to go. He is awful.